There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me

Brooke Shields ’83
Dutton Adult
November 2014

In this memoir, the actress and author of the New York Times bestseller Down Came the Rain explores her relationship with her unforgettable mother. Brooke Shields never had what anyone would consider an ordinary life. She was raised by her Newark-tough single mom, Teri, a woman who loved the world of show business and was often a media sensation all by herself. Brooke’s iconic modeling career began by chance when she was only eleven months old, and Teri’s skills as both Brooke’s mother and manager were formidable. But in private, she was troubled and drinking heavily. As Brooke became an adult, the pair made choices and sacrifices that would affect their relationship forever. And when Brooke’s own daughters were born, she found that her experience as a mother was shaped in every way by the woman who raised her. Only Brooke knows the truth of the remarkable, difficult, complicated woman who was her mother. In this honest, open memoir about her life growing up, Brooke reveals stories and feelings that are relatable to anyone who has been a mother or daughter.